No, the title isn’t a typo for “memory,” though perhaps that would also be appropriate: I have for you today a Bloomsday Meme/Quote.
June 16, 1904 is the setting for all 265,222 words of James Joyce’s Ulysses: 120 years ago today. As a milestone anniversary, I can’t very well let it go by without posting something, even if I am rather too busy to put proper effort into a very unique and specifically Joycean homily. And I already made the meme years ago for Instagram, albeit with my old handle, so I might as well make use of it.
(I don’t have the energy to edit the picture again to correct the handle or get rid of it altogether. I already used my remaining HP and stamina points to figure out how to code italics in a post title. Yay! I will finally be able to satisfy my personal peeve of properly formatting book titles, but, also, Boo! more effort is not efforting today.)
It is, to be fair, both a Ulysses and Sherlock meme, as Moriarty (played by Irishman Andrew Scott, incidentally) says to Sherlock, “You’re on the side of the angels” while on the roof in “The Reichenbach Fall.” But nobody does referential literature like Joyce (except maybe T.S. Eliot) so I thought he wouldn’t mind.
For the purist, here is the quote independent of outside associations:
Be on the side of the angels. Be a prism. You have that something within, the higher self.
James Joyce, Ulysses
Goodness, not long ago I was commenting how St. Patrick’s Day posts are becoming a tradition for me: this will be the third successive year I’ve made a Bloomsday post. One might even think I actually liked the book or something, when in fact I just spent too much time on it to see my way clear to relinquishing its potential for blog content. Yet.
Happy Bloomsday!
Also, notably, Happy Father’s Day! (It is probably about this time that my own estimable father is questioning the wisdom of ever having taught me to read.)
Meanwhile, check out the other Bloomsday posts I’ve put far more effort into. One has a fun quiz with more quotes and the other has personal ruminations on what was and perhaps continues to be a heavily contested issue in our society.
Bloomsday Quotes Quiz: Which Lynch?
Among the mélange of random diatribes [in Ulysses]… I came across this character of the student Lynch who reminded me… of a different Lynch…
‘A feminist: (masculinely)…’
I did, once upon a time, read Ulysses by James Joyce. And I did, once upon a Mediterranean cruise, enjoy parts of it along with some quotes I saved. Seeings it is Bloomsday, June 16, the singular day on which all 265,000 words and 18 episodes of the novel canonically take place, I can hardly…
Or perhaps you’re in the mood for lighter fare, such as more Sherlock memes. I’ve got those too.
The Picture of Sherlock Holmes
I’m a day late, but I thought this quote and picture set I made a while back would fit with Best Friends’ Day. I got to spend the day yesterday with a great friend of mine. Whether they’re your depressed artist friend, blogger/flatmate, or your archenemy/brother/”detested” relation, let your friends know how much they mean…
Sherlock and Lord Henry Do Not Suffer Fools Gladly
I’ve already used part of this Henry Wotton quote for another Sherlock meme, but this was a different direction it could be taken. Recently I got discussing the phenomenon of interpersonal relations in the workplace (ironically, with someone whom I had not always gotten along with), and I came out confirmed in my conviction that…
Fictitiously Yours 